This letter is now available in Japanese and German.
Dear Akio —
This photo is quite sobering. As you know the pool at Unit No. 4 contains 1,538 fuel assemblies, including a full core that was freshly discharged prior to the accident.
As I might have mentioned, based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy, a spent fuel assembly from a typical boiling water reactor contains about 30,181 curies ( ~1.1E+15 becquerels) of long-lived radioactivity. So the Unit No. 4 pool contains roughly 49 million curies (~1.8E+18 Bq), of which about 40 percent if Cs-137. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Final Environmental Impact Statement, for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada, 2002, Appendix A, Tables A-7, A-8, A-9, A-10, BWR/ Burn up = 36,600 MWd/MTHM, enrichment = 3.03 percent, decay time = 23 years.)
As you know, the risk of yet another highly destructive earthquake occurring even closer to the Fukushima reactors has increased, according to the European Geosciences Union. This is particularly worrisome for Daiichi’s structurally damaged spent fuel pool at Reactor No. 4 sitting 100 feet above ground, exposed to the elements. Drainage of water from this pool, resulting from another quake could trigger a catastrophic radiological fire involving about eight times more radioactive cesium than released at Chernobyl.
Best Regards,
Bob Alvarez
Dear Bob:
I thank you very much for your comments on the photo of the Fukushima reactor unit 4.
You and Dr. Gordon Edwards of Canada used the same word, “sobering,” when you saw the photo.
My great concern is what Dr. Hans-Peter Durr, former Director of Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute in Germany told me ten months ago. Japan had not yet admitted the core had melted down, but Hans-Peter knew that Fukushima was close to bringing us beyond the limits of our scientific knowledge and strongly suggested that Japan’s government should create an independent assessment team to bring the best minds of the nuclear scientists and structural engineers to seek the best solution. In such circumstances, Dr. Edwards accurately said, “It is important to seek the advice of experts who are genuinely independent having no conflict of interest and no need to save face. National pride makes it understandably difficult to seek help from outside, but sometimes it is the best thing to do.”
I have to admit that my country’s strong national pride makes it unrealistic to see an independent assessment team form soon enough, and so I now turn to rely on U.S. leadership to act out of the need for common, global security before a strong earthquake comes in the near future. If the reactor unit 4 building collapses, we will face a global environmental and human catastrophe larger than ever before.
I ask you and your colleagues to help bring this to the attention of U.S. senators and representatives so we may overcome the political hurdles and find a constructive solution.
Yours truly,
Akio
Dear Akio,
As I said before, given our present population and challenges, no one will pay attention until another disaster occurs. Even then, the attention will wither in a maximum of a month unless the disaster leads to hundreds of thousands of dead.
Tatiana
Always remember Reality conforms to the belief and expectations of the observer(s).
Any radioactive material can be neutralized by the Baumgartner process, exposure to browns gas, exposed to scalar translator beams,and other methods.www.gdr.org
And every person should carry or wear a labradorite crystal.Yes
This is quite upsetting. But recognizing that there is a problem of ‘face-saving’ on Japan’s part is important in knowing what should be done.
Jim
Hello,
By way of introduction,
I have operated a highly specialized business in sydney australia repairing underwater cracks in concrete pools for the past thirty six years.
Reading of the issues related to the nos. Three and four containment ponds I have come up with a few ideas that may greatly reduce or stop the water loss without endangering workers.
Repairs to Containment pond three will require the manufacture of an active-vacuum sealing double-walled hollow metal column, much like a drain pipe cut down the middle with an end cap on each end. The unit is sized to encompass the crack. An o ring seat is fitted to each of the double walls around the perimeter. When a vacuum pump is connected via a flexible tube and the unit is held against the pond wall, a partial vacuum occurs between the twin walls of the alloy collumn and the concrete wall, causing the unit to adhere securely to the concrete and stop the leak. The water inside the inner void can now be evacuated through a one way valve in the bottom of the unit by applying a low positive pressure to the inner void through another inlet line. Now we have a controlled area to repair the crack. An internal heater can be activated to dry the concrete surface around the crack. Once the inner surface is dry, Yet another flexible line can introduce a suitable high strength epoxy to effect the repair. Again, a mild positive pressure will allow the repair epoxy to flow into the crack and penetrate the wall as well as filling the vacuum repair containment unit itself. This should result in a very strong semi-circular shaped repair along the entire length of the crack.
I use an insanely strong high temp two part mega-epoxy to seal concrete cracks without removing water from pools.
In twenty four hours the metallic repair unit can be removed (or not) and the repair is complete. (In another twenty four hours the epoxy material has become so hard you require a diamond saw to scratch it.) This megapoxy is a locally made product from an engineering firm here and it has never failed me.
The no. Four pond remedy I thought of is a little more complicated and is designed to repair an unseen crack in a pond possibly fouled with junk, where the sealant material is mobile ( by way of creating a swirling water flow within the pond) and will search out the crack.
Please someone contact me and talk, we could repair the crack in no. 3 in perhaps two days and kill the leak in no. 4 in a week or two. I’m not a crackpot…I’m in the business of repairing underwater cracks in swimming pools and the ramifications of failing to seal these ponds frightens myself and everyone here.
I know nothing about nukes but i have thirty six years experience in repairing cracks in pools and would like to help if I can.
I’m willing to travel.
If anyone reads this and can pass it on to a relevant authority, please do.
Regards,
Ken G.
Mantelbrottset@yahoo.com.au
great input, humanity at it’s best. hope it will be picked up by those who care.
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